July 1: Andy Layne and Appalachian trails to Tinker Cliffs and back. 7.4 miles.
It continues to be easier to find parking at the Andy Layne trailhead than at the McAfee Knob lot, despite its being far bigger. And this good long climb is just as worth it, with the views into and the breeze out of West Virginia making for one of the best mountain lunch spots around Roanoke.
July 4: Appalachian Trail from U.S. 220 in Daleville to “Hey” Rock viewpoint onto Carvins Cove. 5.6 miles.
Ain’t the view always a great addition to lunch?
July 8: House Mountain Trail and its spur to Little House Mountain and back. 8.2 miles.
New hike! We’ve long had House Mountain on our to-do list for hikes, and finally made the trip to west of Lexington, with the assumption we’d do both Big and Little in one hike. But the combination of a late start, the rocky, demanding trail and the killer viewpoint had us decide to save Big House for another day. The viewpoint from Little House is just plain spectacular; you look down onto I-64 as it heads toward West Virginia, and over your shoulder, you can look west across the Shenandoah Valley—a first for us on a hike.
July 9: Star Trail and Loop Road to Fork in the Alley for lunch and then back up the Loop and Monument trails and back down the Star Trail. 6.2 miles.
You get to combine wooded trails with a nice urban lunch, well then you gotta walk off the lunch back to where you started.
July 15: Appalachian Trail from U.S. 501 to Fullers Rocks and back. 6.4 miles.
It had been several years since we took on the 21-switchback climb to the view down onto the James. The hike was filled with several sets of thru-hikers who did not fit the general character of such; these folks seemed to want to hang around and talk, and once we picked what we thought was an out-of-the-way part of the rocky viewpoint, one of them sat down maybe 10 fee behind us and proceeded to talk, ostensibly to herself, to the point that we got up and moved. But hey, in a month of great views, this one certainly holds its own, and makes the climb worth it.
July 22 (Bike): New River Trail from Foster Falls to Draper Mercantile and back. About 36 miles on wheels.
We undertook this excursion once before, looking forward with every pedal to lunch at Draper Mercantile which, to our amazement, was closed on a Saturday, with the family off to a wedding (was there within this circumstance maybe a hint that we should get on some social media?). On this day, we enjoyed not only a fine lunch and a brief visit from the owner, but also the backdrop of a chef demo. Lots of fun.
July 23: Dragon’s Tooth, Scout and Appalachian trails loop. 3.2 miles.
What with the big ol’ bike ride the day before, we defaulted to our weeniest hike, albeit with a nice lunch at Rawie’s Rest.
July 29-30: Beach and road walks at Nags Head. 4 miles.
On our arrival, the Outer Banks felt like, well the Outer Banks, as strong winds and big waves made you feel like you were on out into the Atlantic. Good walks on the beach, past the historic cottages and to nice dinners.
Since Valentine’s Day 2004, Blue Ridge Country Editor in Chief Kurt Rheinheimer and his wife Gail have hiked at least once almost every weekend. Of those bazillion weekends, they have missed just 14, virtually all due to occasional balkiness from Kurt’s old-man knees or achilles. For the first two years (Valentine’s Day 2004 through Valentine’s Day 2006) they didn’t miss a single week, and they have a longer streak now, which Kurt is too superstitious to talk about. They celebrated their 1oth anniversary of hiking with a February 2014 trip to hike the trails of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. They completed the 550 miles of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia in the summer of 2008, and have walked more than 5,100 miles total, mostly in Virginia but including hikes in West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Oregon and … New Zealand! This blog is an ongoing chronicle of those hikes. We hope you enjoy these tales from the trail, and we encourage you to get out there and experience the beautiful Blue Ridge for yourself – happy hiking!
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